"I said, 'What do you see?' She couldn't even look at herself. I said, 'Who did this to you?' She looked stunning, but she hated it."

When TLC announced earlier this month that “What Not to Wear” would be ending after 10 seasons, stylist Clinton Kelly actually expressed some measure of relief: “I don’t have to point out that dark-wash jeans look dressier than light-wash jeans every day of my freakin’ life.”

So we asked Carmindy, the show’s perpetually sunny make-up artist, what maxim she won’t miss repeating.

“Probably that it’s not selfish and it’s not wrong to take time for yourself in the morning to actually look your very best,” she said in a recent phone interview. “It can be quick and easy. Busy moms, they let themselves go. They put their kids first, their husband first, their jobs first. It’s been really hard to just get them to take that five minutes and teach them it’s not selfish. It’s okay to celebrate their femininity.”

âItâs not wrong to take time for yourself in the morning to actually look your very best,â says Carmindy.TLC

Carmindy is the quintessential California girl, with long blond waves and a sun-kissed complexion — but that’s bronzer, not a tanning bed or, heaven forbid, the sun itself. Born in Newport Beach, she spent her teenage years “painting faces all over the neighborhood,” and by 18 she was working as unpaid assistant in Hollywood. “I’d wash brushes, get coffee, just to be around the set. I love making women feel good about themselves.”

That was the basic challenge of “What Not To Wear,” which is scheduled to ends its run in September. One “contributor” (they’re never called fashion victims) was already so ticked off by the process that she marched up to Carmindy before she even got off the elevator and told her she didn’t want to be made up. “I literally put a little bit of moisturizer and a dab of foundation and she said, ‘Let me stop you right there.’ I explained to her this is makeup, you can wash it off, it’s not a commitment. It’s literally just for five minutes.”

The woman was still resistant, and Carmindy ended up walking off the set and had to be coaxed back by the director. “I did her makeup, and in the end she wound up being very thankful and happy. ‘What Not To Wear,’ it’s all about facing your fears and your insecurities. It’s not about the cute pair of slacks. It’s about facing your insecurities and overcoming them and learning how to feel good and celebrate yourself, and that’s tough to do.”

Another contributor was a bleached blond flight attendant who wore pale pink frosted lipstick and five pounds of mascara and whose entire wardrobe was either pink, bedazzled, covered with bows, or some combination of the three. It took a pile of makeup removing cloths to strip the spackle off her face.

“I said, ‘What do you see?’ She couldn’t even look at herself. I said, ‘Who did this to you?’ She looked stunning, but she hated it and had to go back. That’s more a ‘Dr. Phil.’ There’s been a few where it’s a little deeper than we get to.”’

Carmindy, who has published three books and is launching her own makeup line next year, says the biggest misconception women have about makeup (other than it’s time-consuming to apply) is that it’s still that thick, heavy, cake-y formulation they remember from years ago. “They think it’s going to look old and dated — like the last time they wore makeup.”

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After years of dealing with models and celebrities, working with real women inspired Carmindy to create what she calls the “five-minute face,” a fresh, natural look that emphasizes luminous skin. It all but skips eye shadow, opting instead for a sweep of highlighter on the brow bone and along the tops of cheekbones, plus a little eyeliner smudged close to the lash line and a coat of mascara on top lashes only, and sheer or creamy lip gloss.

But she also embraces beauty trends, within reason. How about the bright blue eyeshadow we saw all over the spring runways?

“You can play with those colors if you use them very lightly,” she says. Take an emerald green or turquoise powder and finely trace your upper lash line, so there’s a hint of tint. “You’re on point with the color trend but you’re not taking it literally. It’s very wearable this way.”